{ "chinesename
title
Prof.
surname
Poon
givenname
Ellen Ngar-Yun
photo
../images/people/ellenpoon.png
education
DPhil (Oxon), BSc Hons (USyd)
post
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine & Therapeutics
Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Centre for Cardiovascular Genomics & Medicine (CCGM), Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, CUHK
Hong Kong Hub of Paediatric Excellence (HK HOPE), Hong Kong Children's Hospital (HKCH)
researcherid
expertise
Human pluripotent stem cell cardiac biology
Mitochondria
Cardiac metabolism
interest
- Applications of human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes for disease modelling and drug screening
- Cardiac mitochondrial biology and metabolism
- Cardiotoxicity
- Cardiac maturation
tel
(852) 3513 3164
email
ellen.poon@cuhk.edu.hk
research
Prof Ellen Poon’s research centres on the application of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) for disease modeling and drug screening. Immaturity of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes has long been a barrier to the use of these cells for research and therapy, since their embryonic phenotype makes them poor models of adult heart function and diseases. Combining transcriptomic, proteomic and microRNA profiling, she revealed novel regulatory mechanisms that govern cardiac maturation. In her most recent work, she employed cutting-edge chemoproteomic technology to identify a cell surface marker of cardiac maturation. This facilitates the isolation of cardiomyocytes with adult-like mitochondrial and metabolic properties, which can uniquely recapitulate patient drug responses. Her research currently focuses on the application of hPSC-CMs for the modeling of human cardiac disorders, to facilitate investigations of pathogenic mechanisms, discovery of therapeutic agents and identification of novel disease biomarkers.

selected
publication
Kwok M, Lee C, Li HS, Deng R, Tsoi C, Ding Q, Tsang SY, Leung KT, Yan BP, Poon EN*. Remdesivir induces persistent mitochondrial and structural damage in human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. Cardiovasc Res 2021. *corresponding author"},{ "publication
Chan K,Zhang C, Wong YTS, Zhang XB, Wang CC, Ng WH, Fok SP, Tang PM, Kang W, Feng B, Poon ENY, Lee KY, Lee CK, Chen C, Leung TY, Ng MH, To KF, Wang H, Lam HS, Ng PC, Yuen PM, Li K, Leung AWK, Li CK, Leung KT. R4 RGS proteins suppress engraftment of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells by modulating SDF-1/CXCR4 signaling. Blood Adv 2021."},{ "publication
Kelly MI, Albahrani M, Castro C, Poon E, Yan B, Littrell J, Waas M, Boheler KR, Gundry RL. Importance of evaluating protein glycosylation in pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for research and clinical applications. Pflugers Arch 2021;473:1041-1059."},{ "publication
Boheler KR, Poon EN*. Cell surface markers for immunophenotyping human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Pflugers Arch 2021;473:1023-1039.
*corresponding author"},{ "publication
Zhu S, Law AHY, Deng R, Poon ENY, Lo CW, Kwong AKY, Liang R, Chan KYK, Wong WL, Tan-Un KC, Pijnappel W, Chan GCF, Chan SHS. Generation of genomic-integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells and the derived cardiomyocytes of X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy from DMD gene mutation. Stem Cell Res 2020;49:102040."},{ "publication
Poon E*, Luo XL, Webb SE, Yan B, Zhao R, Wu S, Yang Y, Zhang P, Bai H, Shao J, Chan CM, Chan GC, Tsang SY, Gundry RL, Yang HT, Boheler KR*, The Cell Surface Marker CD36 Selectively identifies Matured, Mitochondrial-rich hPSC-Cardiomyocytes. Cell Res. 2020. * co-corresponding author"},{ "publication
Waas M, Weerasekera R, Kropp EM, Romero-Tejeda M, Poon E, Boheler KR, Burridge PW and Gundry RL. Are These Cardiomyocytes? Protocol Development Reveals Impact of Sample Preparation on the Accuracy of Identifying Cardiomyocytes by Flow Cytometry. Stem cell reports. 2019;12:395-410."},{ "publication
Poon E*, Hao B, Guan D, Li M, Lu J, Yang Y, Wu B, Wu S, Webb S, Liang Y, Miller A, Yao X, Wang J, Yan B*, Boheler KR. Integrated transcriptomic and regulatory network analyses identify microRNA-200c as a novel repressor of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte differentiation and maturation. Cardiovasc Res. 2018 May 1;114(6):894-906. * co-corresponding author, subject of journal editorial"},{ "publication
Lu J, Boheler KR, Jiang L, Chan CW, Tse WW, Keung W, Poon E, Li RA and Yao X. Polycystin-2 Plays an Essential Role in Glucose Starvation-Induced Autophagy in Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes. Stem Cells. 2018 Apr;36(4):501-513."},{ "publication
Wang J, Cui C, Nan H, Yu Y, Xiao Y, Poon E, Yang G, Wang X, Wang C, Li L, Boheler KR, Ma X, Cheng X, Ni Z and Chen M. Graphene Sheet-Induced Global Maturation of Cardiomyocytes Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. ACS applied materials & interfaces. 2017;9:25929-25940."},{ "publication
Wang Y, Li ZC, Zhang P, Poon E, Kong CW, Boheler KR, Huang Y, Li RA, Yao X. Nitric Oxide-cGMP-PKG Pathway Acts on Orai1 to Inhibit the Hypertrophy of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes. Stem Cells. 2015 Aug 12."},{ "publication
Poon E, Keung W, Liang YM, Ramalingam R, Yan B, Zhang S, Chopra A, Moore J, Herren A, Lieu DK, Wong HS, Weng Z, Wong OT, Lam YW, Tomaselli GF, Chen C, Boheler KR, Li RA. Proteomic Analysis of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived, Fetal and Adult Ventricular Cardiomyocytes Reveals Pathways Crucial for Cardiac Metabolism and Maturation. Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2015 Jun;8(3):427-36."},{ "publication
Poon E, Yan B, Zhang S, Rushing S, Keung K, Lihuan R, Lieu DK, Lin G, Kong CW, Wang J, Wong HS, Boheler KR, Li RA. Transcriptome-guided functional analyses reveal novel biological properties and regulatory hierarchy of human embryonic stem cell-derived ventricular cardiomyocytes crucial for maturation. PLoS One. 2013 Oct 21;8(10)."},{ "publication
Poon E, Kong CW, Li RA. Human pluripotent stem cell-based approaches for myocardial repair: From the electrophysiological perspective. Mol Pharm. 2011;8:1495-1504."},{ "publication
Poon E, Clermont F, Firpo MT, Akhurst RJ. Tgfbeta inhibition of yolk-sac-like differentiation of human embryonic stem-cell-derived embryoid bodies illustrates differences between early mouse and human development. J Cell Sci. 2006;119:759-768."}]}